Battle for Fort Resilience
The Battle for Fort Resilience was waged against the New Union by a combined force of Norguard forces and Type B Xectites in mid-2024. Fort Resilience ultimately fell and a large part of the New Union garrison within were killed or captured, however the Norguard and Beta Xectites sustained high causalities. This event, upon circulating throughout the New Union, caused a prompt, official declaration of war by the New Union against the Norguard Confederacy and their allied Beta Xectites. Pre-Conflict Weeks prior to the conflict, the Norguard were somehow able to secure an alliance with the Beta Xectite horde which had entirely consumed the remains of PC33. Considering the additional strength of their new allies on top of the strength of the Norguard Security Force (NGSF), the Norguard put their plans to attack WES_HQ, specifically Fort Resilience, into motion. The Norguard already knew that Fort Resilience was beyond a reasonable doubt the most well-defended installation within the region and that they faced a technological and military colossus; so large in fact, Fort Resilience had long since shed its original concept and began to resemble more of a sprawling military-industrial complex. However, with the addition of an entire army of Beta Xectites - the possibility of a New Union defeat became tangible. The Norguard's general plan was to approach Fort Resilience from the North while the Beta Xectites would approach from the south. Utilizing sewage systems and the knowledge of pre-existing tunnels into the region from the days of The Coalition, NGSF forces counted on moving sizable numbers of infantry near the outer walls of the Fort itself, hopefully undetected. Similarly, the Xectites, who had at one point held a nest in the Industrial district, planned to use the sewers they were familiar with to gain access to the Forts industrial sector. The actual march of the NGSF force itself was a somewhat tedious though fairly impressive logistical feat. By vehicle, the NGSF force could only be brought so close to WES_HQ, and thus, the NGSF underwent a several day march on foot, utilizing the cover of night, remnants of forests, unkempt and thus unwatched former highways and roads, and whatever other means would minimize their risk of detection. O'Malley, the commander of this operation, opted to split his NGSF force into three smaller groups to lessen the odds of being seen, which would then later reunite near Fort Resilience. The NSGF force was by and large unaccustomed to such a lengthy, swift, and tense march. The soldiers were ordered not to smoke, light fires, cook food, or even walk too far from the rest of the troop - for detection could quickly spell the end of the assault before it had even begun. Campgrounds were either in the rubble of long destroyed and abandoned buildings, under the canopy of woods, in sewers of destroyed rural towns - or underneath large bridges. For the sole purpose of carrying food and gear - a small group of NSGF recruits and non-combatants were employed and followed the soldiers. Perhaps both to try and keep morale intact and to remove the need to light fires for cooking - this NSGF attack troop was fed especially well with high-grade rations - ones that didn't require cooking of any kind. Suffice to say, when the NSGF body of infantry finally arrived near Resilience - more than a few were sore, damp, and miserable. The Xectites underwent an even longer march of their own, though, as it turns out - the undead are far less troubled by things like blisters and sleeping on concrete. SSG. Anderson and his Lieutenants did their best to signal their army to gather - and orient them in the general direction of WES_HQ. The majority of the Xectites were intelligent enough to stay together, stop when ordered, and continue in the right direction when told - though, for others, it was a bit like herding cattle. Utilizing their own well-practiced methods of swift and stealthy movement - Anderson was able to get most of his army in position near Resilience, though, some of the more easily distracted Xectites got lost somewhere along the way. The Battle Roughly an hour before the battle, several final preparations were being made. In the North, the Norguard infantry checked their munitions one final time and tried to mentally prepare themselves for when the signal to attack finally came. Most NSGF had seen Type-A Xectites once before. Fewer had seen Type-Bs. Almost none could comprehend an actual alliance with them - and yet, the order was to wait for the Type-Bs signal to charge. Sentiments about this varied, but most NSGF could at least be content in knowing they weren't going in first. In the East, one of Anderson's Xectite Lieutenants, Cpl. Song and a handful of similarly "sound-oriented" Xectites positioned themselves to where they could not be easily seen but could be heard. The idea was, at the right time, to give the New Union the impression that a large Xectite army was stirring just over an Eastern ridge via a horrendous symphony of whaling, echos, and shrieking. In the West, a group of Xectites and NSGF stacked large piles of wood from long-dead trees and prepped to light several bonfires which were small distances apart. Cpl. Skull, another Xectite Lieutenant of Andersons, proposed that the WES_HQ garrison would remember these fires from the last time they were used. Before the 2nd Schism, WES_HQ was established shortly after violently driving a massive nest of Xectites out of the areas industrial sector. To rally all Xectites in the region, the Xectites built large, simple, and reasonably effective fires that shot up large plumes of signal smoke. Members of the New Union caught onto this and thus were able to warn other members of the New Union who also reported sighting these fires. In the South, underneath the surface a few blocks of sewer away from industrial - the main body of Xectites gathered around SSG. Anderson and waited for his attack order. At around the same time - three events occured that set the battle off. The Western fires were ignited. A chorus of screams erupted from the East, and a charge sweeping through the sewers was begun. The New Union reported the fires almost at once. In response, JUDGE 17150, the current WES_HQ Commander deployed there directly after the Fall of PC33, ordered all outbound patrols back to base, and put the installation and entire region on code yellow. Underground, automated defenses began to signal the movement of the Xectites - and then fire upon them. The New Union could not close off the sewers entirely, as they were essential to support the large population of WES_HQ - but they did anticipate potential exploitation, and left considerable turret defenses, though not so heavy that maintenance would be dangerous. The Xectite main body, far larger than the New Union would ever have anticipated sweeping through the structure without being detected beforehand, quickly overwhelmed the underground autonomous defenses. Meanwhile, the infantry on the East Wall of Resilience tensed, ready for some Xectite charge to follow the near-deafening shouts. The Xectites had mastered the ability to "throw sound", and it sounded to many that the Xectites were right on top of the soldiers - unseen. Some of the low ranking soldiers panicked, and in the midst of the ear curdling sounds, didn't think to mute their exterior helmet audios - making them deaf to the orders of their NCOs not directly next to them. It was then the Southern Xectites breached the surface and spilled out into Industrial. By now, the New Union was already well aware that they would be facing Xectites and had positioned themselves and adjusted their doctrine accordingly. Initially, SWORD and GRID units were the first to engage, holding lines of defense throughout the Industrial sector. As the battle in Industrial grew in momentum, those of the New Union monitoring communications found that they were being disrupted by jamming measures: causing communications and the command hierarchy to collapse, only for a moment as 17150 and the collective command unit inside the bunker radically altered their methods - initiating the Signal Occlusion Protocol and re-establishing direct communications with team leaders through visor based communications. All of which quickly suggested the Xectites had become frighteningly intelligent, or they had help. The latter explanation would emerge true. Not long after the Xectite charge was in full swing, and jamming measures were being utilized, the New Union found themselves subject to artillery and rocket fire hailing down from the North and North-east. A watchtower on the outer perimeter to the North crumbled - and it was evident the New Union was now being attacked from two fronts. As perhaps expected for a JUDGE but by any measure, still impressive as 17150 maintained his composure: the reports and intel continuously came in - none of which was good news for 17150 and the New Union. Assessing the broad situation with what information he had, using the Signal Occlusion Protocol he invalidated the Norguard communication disruption and relayed a highly-encrypted Code Black distress signal to the New Union Command Council - leaving the alert without target identifiers as his experience and prowess was required to stave off the co-ordinated assaults with sharp and strategic orders, one after the other. 17150s largest and foremost response to the Beta Xectites spreading their plague-ridden forms across the Industrial: the order to deploy the entirety of the HAF garrison forward into the Industrial, instructing them to grab their Xectite foe by the belt, specifically saying for them to "...be as reckless and aggressive as possible..." It appeared that the Xectites in Industrial were employing ranged weapons and were massing dangerously, the response on behalf of 17150 was to deploy his HAF forces nose-to-nose with the incoming Xectite hordes responding to the shock of their attack with a countercharge of his own, one composed of draconian and fearless synthetic soldiers: disregarding the morale shattering tactics of the Beta Xectites. Then, 17150 addressed the Northern Front and instructed GRID artillery units and scanner teams to work in tangent, deploying scanners to locate enemy artillery, and using their own batteries to attempt to prevent further destruction of hardened positions within the fortress. On the southern front inside of the Industrial, the orders of 171 regarding the HAF had mixed results. The HAF, unphased by the visual horrors of the Xectites, are incapable of considering retreat. However, ordering the HAF to get up close and personal was placing them in the range of combat that Xectites preferred most. A contest of brute force ensued, and while the HAF were winning it initially - the tide of battle shifted swiftly into the Xectites favor. Also, with each HAF killed, the morale of the supporting SWORD units faltered. HAF were considered fairly rare elites within the New Union, with computer-like tactical minds, immense muscle power, and precise accuracy, and so, to see an HAF soldier, and then several more one after the other, fall to the Xectite horde began to erode the morale of the UCM SWORD squads deployed behind them. Eventually, at some point mid-battle, the Xectite screams in the east ceased, as though having served their purpose. Meanwhile, the Norguard infantry now pressed inward from the North. Artillery barrage had taken out much of the outer walls and outposts defenses, and smokescreen had obscured the NSGFs advance. Small groups of New Union soldiers, forced into cover by the artillery, put up little resistance against the NSGF who advanced en-masse. This initial, easy capturing of wide swathes of ground and easy dispatching of scattered SWORD offered false comforts and was wholly misleading to the NSGF infantry of what was to come. Invigorated by their success - they marched on. The NSGF then reached the first, northern hard point of Fort Resilience, and assailed it with volley after volley of 40mm grenade launchers. The Northern Perimeter Hardpoint that the Norguard Infantry approached was a sort of labyrinth of perimeter restrictions, thundering Having to destroy, disable, or blow a path around these fixtures while still being shot at slowed the NSGFs confident advance considerably. All the while, SWORD soldiers on higher walls utilized NV/IR modules in their visors, reporting the fire locations of Norguard artillery and firing on the infantry through the smoke. However, as it would turn out - firing several hot beams of Plasma into plumes of smoke tampered with the IR/NV modules' effectiveness. The heat of the plasma overrode the heat signatures of NSGF infantry, and the light of the plasma beams diluted the NV modules as the light reflected off the smoke. Several metal doors that had been invitingly left open then shut close, leaving pockets of Norguard infantry temporarily isolated, and channeled into several directions. New Union close artillery began to shell the areas of perimeter already considered lost. This, however, had a varied effect, such as friendly fire and the occasional breaching their own walls or gates in the Norguards favor. The bio-gates, metal doors and close-range shelling bought the New Union enough time to deploy what Airwatch Helicopters they had - which then went on to fly low and aggressively over the Norguard advance, blasting infantry through the smoke and creating a mess of the earth they had to cross through. Several of the NSGF recalled their training and did their best to space out as not to be decimated by the Airwatch. The large craters in the earth caused by explosives had become alluring points of safety in which many NSGF did not want to exit from. To advance - the NSGF had to condense and charge through certain breaches and bottlenecks. To seize the advantage and kill this condensed infantry - the Airwatch had to decide to bomb their own walls and gates, and further widen the breaches and points of entry. Witnessing a barrage of artillery, rains of fire from the Airwatch, and the devastating effects of PBFF rifles on unarmored individuals - the Norguard charge threatened to stop here entirely due to wavering morale. NSGF NCOs tried to stir their men out of shelled holes, out from behind destroyed walls, or get them to stand up where they had simply dove for cover. So swift and unforgiving was the carnage - some wall breaches began to fill with the bodies of NSGF infantry, intact or...dismembered, and had to be stepped over to navigate through. Then, NSGF stinger missiles screeched skyward, and, due to the aggressive nature of the Airwatch flight patterns - several stingers hit their mark. A grand display of aerial explosions and spiraling crashes ensued - the NSGFs resolve to press on was renewed. From here the NSGF utilized short-range mortars among other ordnance, flanking anti-infantry barriers where they could and destroying those they could not get around. The battle in Industrial sought to rival the carnage. What the New Union began to discover, was that their PBFF weapons, generally designed to face a highly armored, lower in number Dominion enemy - were tremendously overpowered against most kinds of Xectites. However - the Xectites were quite numerous, and thermal magazines began to deplete quickly. Running on nervously low amounts of ammo, and having seen far too many HAF fall to the Xectities in too short a time - the SWORD soldiers supporting the HAF in defensive lines began to break, panic, and retreat. Before all was lost, however, a well respected veteran SWORD elite arrived on the scene, and rallied the New Union defenders, leading from the front, physically grabbing enlisted SWORD soldiers and turning them around. It is said that this particular officer pulled down a New Union wall banner, affixed it to the end of a tree limb, and waved it around like a battle flag in one hand, while with his other hand, he fired his PBFF AR at the Xectite horde. Calmed by the in-person presence of the Elite officer and his show of bravery, the SWORD soldiers, and the remaining HAF drew their new lines of battle and confidently dug in. The Elite officer was quoted to have remarked... "Keep your knives at the ready, men! These bastards are having trouble staying dead - and have come running at us to give them a hand!" With clear battle lines temporarily reestablished, New Union Airwatch not already firing upon the Norguard dove down toward industrial and fired upon the Xectites. Whether the Xectites had been biding their time, or it simply took a while for their commanders to reach the surface, is unclear. What is known is that seemingly in tangent with the New Union reorganizing their grip on industrial - the Xectites doubled the ferocity of their assault. The Xectite leadership was now fielded, Anderson himself, and his Lieutenants, all seeming to employ their various peculiar abilities and leading sections of other Xectites. Anderson himself pressed forward with a small squad of Xectites who were particularly adept at utilizing cover, grenades, and rifles. Cpl. Bone, an agile and serpent-like Xectite Lieutenant, lead a force of nimble Xectites onto the rooftops. Some pounced over or onto New Union positions and right on top of New Union infantry. Others carried with them single-use rockets and RPGs, and while quite clumsy and inaccurate, there was enough that the Airwatch choppers could no longer bomb the ground uncontested, and had to sacrifice accuracy for evasiveness. Cpl. Skull utilized his own body as a sort of wrecking ball and riot shield, suffering PBFF fire, bashing into barricades and walls, and even throwing his own smaller Xectite soldiers at or over the enemy. Cpl. Song, the Xectite behind the earlier screams, resurfaced at the back lines of the Southern assault and began to act as a sort standard-bearer, directing the tide of battle and blasting signals familiar to the Xectites to help control the flow of battle - and rattle the minds of any SWORD soldiers unfortunate enough to be nearby. Again, the pendulum would swing in industrial, as suddenly, from a previously locked, silent, and ignored GRID workshop - two teams of GRID heavy infantry burst through garage doors, armed with flamethrowers and PBFF-PDWs, and blasted into the rear of the Xectites eastern charge. Cpl. Skull, who was present at the time, caught wind of this and ordered the eastern charge to fall back. To deter a New Union counter attack - Skull employed the use of peculiar, short, and bulbous Xectites, that upon some kind of self-detonation would burst into a clot of acid and tendrils, snaring and scalding any that would venture too close. This factor, combined with the New Union line needing to resupply - caused the officer present to order that the line remain where it is. The bravery of the GRID soldiers allowed the New Union in the north part of industrial some breathing room, and time to reload and rethink their next move. However, with the brunt of a Xectite charge meant to break the Command bunker now turned on only a few dozen GRID - the engineers, without reinforcement, were overrun and killed. Meanwhile, the NSGF had managed to pass the last interior set of walls before the entrance to fort Resilience itself. They had allowed artillery to soften much of the walls and then relied on simple infantry ladders to scale the damaged structure. Rather than continue aggressively to the main door - the Norguard advance temporarily halted, and the NSGF gathered men together for a second, large push. NSGF artillery, large and small, stirred into full throttle, sending slews of ordnance at the final northern wall of Fort Resilience. With precise timing, the NSGF infantry began their collective second push as soon as the barrage had halted and poured into the freshly ripped breaches of steel. Faced with desperate New Union PBFF fire, packed into tight spaces and small corridors, the casualties to the first line in this second charge were astronomical. Norguard NCOs found swathes of low ranked men plastered to the sides of the wall next to breach points - frozen and unwilling to charge in. Some even began to retreat away from the breach points altogether. Had the New Union troops not been disoriented by artillery, and the NSGF so quick to charge in after the artillery had finished - said causalities may have broken the assaults will to continue entirely. Again, however, the power over capacity nature of the PBFF firearms eventually drained the New Union infantries ammo reserves, and by the strength of numbers, the NSGF took the final North wall of Fort Resilience. From here, it was a matter of urban skirmishing, with NSGF forces running down New Union soldiers who were without fortifications, and without ammo. As the Norguard secured these positions, they took useful equipment and began to employ small mortars into Northern industrial to assist the Xectites against remaining New Union forces. In anticipation of New Union air scouts - some were ordered to fire guns from New Union installations and continuously set off explosions, as though to make it appear the battle was still going on. In the Industrial sector, with news of the Northern New Union line collapsing and expecting the Xectites to breach through the south at any moment, JUDGE 171 ordered all remaining personnel to converge around the Command Bunker in the North half of the Industrial sector. Simultaneously, GRID teams stationed by Fort Resilience's reactor began to evacuate, sealing doors, gates, and laying mines and other traps on their way out. The remaining HAF on the surface were ordered into "sacrifice protocol", and tasked to hold the lines from the west and east roads, leading to the Command Bunker. Meanwhile, the remaining New Union infantry, who had noticed that no attack was coming from the East - filed through the bunker, and out Eastward, with the intent to push through any resistance and escape Fort Resilience. All remaining Airwatch was ordered Northward, to fly swiftly over NSGF lines, and target their rear - specifically batteries and munition dumps, in a very sacrificial way similar to the HAF soldiers on the ground. The few remaining HAF fought as ordered, until their deaths, at the hands of Cpl. Skull and the Xectite horde, who at last convened on the New Union command bunker. The Airwatch, while doing some damage in the bizarre and aggressive maneuver, was swiftly dispatched by Norguard Anti-Air batteries that had been placed to protect the artillery. The Xectites at this point broke out into unrestrained celebration, filling the region with echos yelps, howls, and garbled cheers. Many at once began to feast, and already the conversion process on the New Unions recent dead had begun. However, not long after this, the Norguard became privy to the notion that the New Union had, it seemed, primed the reactor to explode - and kill everyone in the region. The Norguard began to pull back parts of their forces - and advised the Xectites to do the same. The Xectites, especially the less intelligent, were quite reluctant to leave, and the found the notion of abandoning the spoils of their "fresh kills" to be completely out of the question. Anderson and the Lieutenants coerced many to fall back Southward - but only about half of them. The rest were too occupied. Some chose a peculiar middle ground - and ran southward with flesh in their mouths and bodies draped over their shoulders. For the Norguard, one task yet remained at this stage of the battle. They still had to find the reactor, and, it was likely that this one last underground bunker that a group of New Union soldiers sealed themselves in lead to it. So, with torches, and explosives, and at first - words, the remaining NSGF team set to work trying to hollow out this final New Union stronghold. The New Union refused all offers of surrender of any kind, and as such, the Norguard began to try and cut or blast open the bunker door. This proved difficult, however, as the New Union had a particularly troublesome habit of shooting PBFF beams through any hole the Norguard cut open. They also fortified the entrance hallway and began rolling out mounted guns and fabricating improvised explosives. Unwilling to lose any more men at this point, Maj. Noher turned to the Xectites, asking if they had any suggestions. Some of the Xectite Lieutenants were a bit cross with the "Human Commander", after all, he did tell them to abandon what they'd just fought for, and on the double. Cpl. Song, however, was not so averse. She arrived at the bunker, mounted on an infected former VIGIL, and drew several nervous looks from NSGF troops on her walk to the front door. She realized the potency of her audial assaults would be magnified by the acoustics of a sealed space like a bunker - and volunteered to "sing" through whatever hole the Norguard had cut open. That is precisely what she did. However, on the opposite end, at the same time of her singing - a New Union soldier charged and fired a PBFC bolt at the bunker door's hole. Even a few seconds of Song's amplified shrieking was enough to disorient the New Union defenders, and as such, the aim of the SWORD units PBFC deviated rightward, exploding, busting the door, and casting Song backward with kinetic energy. The SWORD units inside had their visors shattered, eardrums burst, and consciousness threatened by Song's amplified abilities, which lingered for a brief time. Taking advantage of this, the Norguard attacked, sending grenades down the hallway, and charging in shortly after, weapons blazing. A few lower-ranking soldiers, unable to resist Cpl. Songs attack, were taken forcefully prisoner - having lost the ability, focus, or will to pick up and fire their weapon before the Norguard were upon them. For the rest of the New Union soldiers, a door to door, room to room, close-ranged hell ensued. Grenades were exchanged, magazines ran dry, and a few NSGF troops died or were seriously wounded by the cornered, desperate New Union soldiers. Some New Union troops even opted to kill themselves after expending all their munitions. While handfuls of very low ranking enlisted and CO/LO support staff did in fact surrender to the Norguard - this was a very small number. Also, the number of New Union prisoners recovered from the Xectites in the Industrial Sector was an absolute zero. Either because nobody in their right mind would surrender to a flesh-eating Xectite, or, the Xectites totally disregarded the Norguard order to try and take prisoners. Perhaps both. At last, Fort Resilience was clear of the New Union. All that was left to be determined, was where the Reactor was - and how badly the Norguard wanted to get to it. Fielded Strength & Casualties (For the moment, these are all just estimations. Very rough estimations. Will change as people give more info / better guesses.) Fielded New Union * UMA: ~54,500 ** SWORD: ~24,000 ** GRID: ~8000 ** VICE: ~2000 ** SHADOW: ~500 ** Ascension: ~20,050 *** Echo: ~17000 *** Blade: ~3000 *** Storm: ~20-50 * UCS: ~800 ** Logistics: ~320 ** Communications: ~80 ** Medical: 350 ** Engineering: ~50 * Vanguard: ~1,800 * Civilians: ~200 * Aircraft: ??? ** Hunter Helicopters: ??? ** ATC class Airships: ??? * Ground Vehicles: ??? ** DCA APCs: ??? * Artillery: ??? ** Long Range Installations: ~30 ** Short Range Installations: ~50 Norguard Confederacy * NSGF Infantry: ~90,000 * Aircraft: ??? ** McDonnell Douglas CF-188 Hornet: ??? ** McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo: ??? ** Refitted Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King: ??? ** Refitted Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone: ??? ** Refitted CH-118 Bell Iroquois: ??? ** Refitted CH-146 Bell Griffon: ??? ** (All of the above aircraft are just guesses/suggestions, Norguard Aircraft not officially established yet) * Ground Vehicles: 0 * Artillery: ??? ** Long Range Batteries: ??? Xectites * Infantry: ~30,000 - 35,000 * Aircraft: 0 * Ground Vehicles: 0 * Artillery: 0 Casualties New Union * UMA: Killed: ~45,500 Wounded: ~3,200 Captured: 1,039 Routed: ~7,000 ** SWORD: Killed: Wounded: Captured: Routed: ** GRID: Killed: Wounded: Captured: Routed: ** VICE: Killed: Wounded: Captured: Routed: ** SHADOW: Killed: Wounded: Captured: Routed: ** Ascension: *** Echo: Killed: Wounded: 0 Captured: 0 Routed: 0 *** Blade: Killed: Wounded: 0 Captured: 0 Routed: 0 *** Storm: Killed: 2 Wounded: 4 Captured: 0 Routed: ~20-50 * UCS: Killed: ~200 Wounded: ~70 Captured: 512 Routed: ~100 ** Logistics: Killed: Wounded: Captured: Routed: ** Communications: Killed: Wounded: Captured: Routed: ** Medical: Killed: Wounded: Captured: Routed: ** Engineering: Killed: Wounded: Captured: Routed: * Vanguard: Killed: ~950 Wounded: ~200 Captured: 483 Routed: ~350 * Civilians: Killed: ~80 Wounded: ~40 Captured: 121 Routed: ~0-10 * Aircraft: ** Hunter Helicopters: Destroyed: Disabled: Routed: ** ATC class Airships: Destroyed: Disabled: Routed: * Ground Vehicles: ** DCA APCs: Destroyed: Disabled: Routed: * Artillery: Destroyed: Disabled: Routed: Norguard Confederacy * NSGF Infantry: Killed: ~38,000 Wounded: 5,764 Captured: 0 Routed: ~600 * Aircraft: Destroyed: Disabled: Routed: * Artillery: Destroyed: Disabled: Routed: Xectites * Infantry: Killed: ~26,000 Wounded: 0 Captured: 0 Routed: 0 Category:Conflicts